Brazil's Stumble on Big Stage Is Nothing New

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Brazil's Robinho after missing a chance to score in the Copa América quarterfinal against Paraguay. Robinho did have Brazil's only goal in regulation, but was substituted in the closing minutes and did not participate in the penalty shootout, won by Paraguay, 4-3.CreditNatacha Pisarenko/Associated Press

LONDON — So, the Brazil of Carlos Dunga has turned out to be no better than the Brazil of Felipe Scolari a year ago.

Both teams built up impressive but ultimately deceptive winning percentages playing promotional games around Europe and the Middle East, only to be exposed badly in major competitions back in South America.

It is almost 12 months since Brazil, coached by Scolari, was humiliated 7-1 by Germany on home soil during the 2014 World Cup. The inevitable ensued: Dunga replaced Scolari as head coach, and the team was substantially rebuilt. But its elimination from the Copa América at the hands of Paraguay was in its own way no less an embarrassment.

The margin was tighter Saturday in Concepción, Chile. Brazil lost the dreaded penalty shootout after the real game finished tied at 1-1. But this is not all about the potluck of penalty kicks — instead it is about the embarrassment of a nation of 200 million that boasts the “Beautiful Game” losing to a minnow of just 7 million whose players are motivated by pride and by the chance to be the David against the Goliath of their continent.

Never underestimate the competitive nature of the South American game. There might be only 10 nations in the regional soccer tournament, but all of them can boast of a century of tradition of being able to have a real go against the two giants of the continent, Brazil and Argentina.

The technical skills of players like Chile’s Alexis Sánchez and Uruguay’s Luis Suárez allow their countries to field big players despite having small populations. And the spirit shown by Paraguay, coached by the Argentine Ramón Díaz, was such that the team was never going to lie down in front of the Brazilians.

Indeed, that is one major factor that works against modern Brazil.

Neymar, the Barcelona winger, is far and away the most spectacular player of his country. But when he was injured during last year’s World Cup, Brazil imploded without him. This year, Neymar caused his own absence from the tournament after he was shown a red card for scuffling after the final whistle, yet Brazil’s same, ridiculous overdependence on one star was exposed again on Saturday.

Brazil was in a good position to win after it took the early lead through a goal by Neymar’s replacement, Robinho. But Paraguay tied it in the 72nd after a hand ball by Thiago Silva and then won the penalty lottery after the 90 minutes ended tied, 1-1.

The Copa differs from most FIFA tournaments in that extra time is not played. There will be extra time in the final on July 4 if it comes to that, but until then, the organizers have chosen to go straight to penalties, once regulation time is exhausted.

The same Paraguayan, Derlis González, scored the two penalty kicks that mattered. González, 21 and currently playing for F.C. Basel in the Swiss league, is a young man on a veteran team led by the much-traveled 33-year-old Roque Santa Cruz.

For Paraguayans, the Copa is an opportunity to showcase talents, togetherness and spirit.

What is the event to Brazilians? First and foremost, it is the second-best opportunity to represent their nation on the international stage. It doesn’t have the global appeal of the World Cup, but the Copa should be a homecoming for the many Brazilian players who earn their fortunes at clubs overseas, not just in Europe, but also in the Middle East and Asia.

Neymar arrived at this Copa just days after he completed the historic treble alongside Lionel Messi and others, as Barcelona won the Spanish league and cup and the Champions League.

His colleague, right back Dani Alves, came straight from the negotiating table after threatening to quit Barça before he changed his mind and opted to stay.

And during this Copa, two more members of Brazil’s preferred lineup have completed negotiations with new clubs. In the next few days, Douglas Costa will leave the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk and sign for Bayern Munich in Germany. The emerging attacking midfielder Roberto Firmino has agreed, subject to a medical examination and work permit, to transfer from Hoffenheim in Germany to Liverpool in England.

These are huge career moves for players who left Brazil in their teens and were developed in foreign leagues. They have, until now, been comparatively unseen and unknown in their own country, part of a new wave of Brazilians who are scouted by alerted clubs that pay them a few million, develop them and then sell them on for tens of millions of dollars in profit.

Scolari and Dunga must understand the new prerogatives well, because they have also worked for big money outside of Brazil. Scolari is now starting over in China and recruiting Brazilians to play for his new club there, Guangzhou Evergrande.

Scolari can boast of a résumé that includes a World Cup title as a coach in 2002, while Dunga can include one as a player in 1994.

To a degree, they both changed a Brazilian culture, away from the Pelé era to a more pragmatic style of play. Both men have accepted that the world has changed and that the Brazilians who play abroad are changed people, with less idealistic notions about the sport. It is money, more than anything, that matters. And Brazil’s soccer confederation allowed its sponsor, Nike, to help determine where the national team played all those exhibitions — games that now appear to have been poor preparations for real tournaments.